


My Mom Says

by PeppermintTchaikovsky



Category: The Iliad - Homer, The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Genre: M/M, fourth grade sleepover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 06:06:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4655472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeppermintTchaikovsky/pseuds/PeppermintTchaikovsky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Achilles invites Patroclus to a sleepover and his mother says a lot of things, some true, mostly not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Mom Says

Patroclus always spent his recess hour sitting with his back against a tree, reading. While this often troubled his father because he were worried he wasn’t interacting with other children enough, the other boys in Ms. Carraway’s fourth grade class didn’t mind at all. For the most part, he was left alone until one day Achilles came to sit beside him.  
“What are you reading?” he asked a bewildered Patroclus.  
“Harry Potter,” Patroclus stuttered.  
“My mom says the seventh book’s coming out soon,” Achilles said.  
“It is. Have you read them?” Patroclus asked.  
“No, my mom says they’re too violent,” Achilles sighed.  
“Well, they’re really good,” Patroclus smiled. The way Achilles was grinning made him look like a golden retriever. There was a moment of silence before Achilles spoke again  
“My birthday’s next Saturday,” Achilles said.  
“Neat,” Patroclus said.  
“My dad says I can invite someone over for a sleepover,” Achilles said, nudging Patroclus’s shoulder.  
“That’s cool,”  
Achilles rolled his eyes, “Do you want to come?” he asked.  
Patroclus was confused. While he was relatively well liked, most of his friends were girls so he never got invited to anything.  
“Sure, but I’ll have to ask my dad,” He said.  
That night when Patroclus told his father that he had been invited to a sleepover he was ecstatic. Patroclus grinned all through dinner. He had never been to a sleepover before, but he had heard they were a lot of fun. He imagined pillow fights and watching movies with a ton of popcorn and pizza and then staying up till midnight telling scary stories with a flashlight under his chin. He could hardly wait until Saturday.  
“So what are you going to get him?” His father asked.  
“Get him for what?” Patroclus responded.  
“Get him for his birthday,”  
“Oh umm-,” Patroclus hadn’t thought that far in advanced.  
“What does he like to do?” Patroclus’s father asked.  
“He’s really good at swimming and sports and he’s the best singer in the class. He’s says he wants to learn how to play harp, but his mom says it’s too feminine, or something,” Patroclus said.  
“Well, I can’t exactly get him a harp, but there was a ukulele for really cheap at Music and Arts. Do you think he’s like that?” he asked.  
“I think he’d love it,” Patroclus said, smiling.  
“That’s great, buddy. I’ll go pick it up tomorrow, okay,” His father said as he ruffled Patroclus’s hair.  
“Okay!” Patroclus said.  
“I think it’s time for you to go to bed,” his father said when he saw him yawning.  
“Yes dad, goodnight,” he said  
“Goodnight buddy,” 

The rest of the week went buy in a flash, though Patroclus took special note of everything Achilles did. He found it particularly fascinated by the fact that while Achilles excelled in music and the division of notes in the measure, he was also completely clueless when it came to fractions. Patroclus also took note of the people Achilles played with. They were the usual rough and rowdy types with way too much energy and sugar in their systems. They probably have been to a hundred sleepovers, Patroclus thought. Then another thought struck him: Why weren't they invited to this one. He considered it very strange.  
On Friday it rained so the class had recess inside. Patroclus was about to go to his usual spot, but Achilles stopped him before he could get there.  
“Do you want to play with us?” Achilles asked him.  
“Sure, what do you play?” he responded.  
“With the castle and the knights,” Achilles said with a smile. Patroclus was very happy. He had always wanted to play with the knights but he was too shy to ask.  
Menelaus, Odysseus, and Diomedes were already huddled around the castle with their chosen figures in hand when Achilles and Patroclus arrived.  
“Which ones are left?” Achilles asked.  
“The princess and the prince,” Menelaus said.   
“I’ll take the princess,” Achilles said. The other boys looked at him strangely. The prince was usually Achilles’ favorite character. This did not go unnoticed by Patroclus.  
“It’s okay if you want to have the prince. I really don’t care,” Patroclus said.  
“No, it’s fine. I want you to have it,” Achilles said as he pressed the figure into Patroclus’s hand.  
“He thinks the prince looks like you,” Odysseus said.  
“You should hear him go on and on about it,” Diomedes added.  
“Guys,” Achilles whispered. He was blushing.  
“Well, you know who the princess looks like?” Odysseus asked.  
“Yeah, Penelope, we all know. You talk about it more than Achilles does,” Diomedes sighed.  
“I’m sorry, but she’s so pretty, I’m going to marry her someday” Odysseus said.  
“Of course you are, and I’m going to marry Helen,” Menelaus scoffed.   
“Why not?” Odysseus asked.  
“Her hair’s just so shiny and she always smells like flowers. Every boy in school must be in love with her,” Menelaus sighed.  
“Nope, you’re actually the only one,” Diomedes said.  
“Just wait until we get to middle school,” Menelaus said.   
“What about you, Achilles?” Odysseus asked,  
“Oh, I don’t know,” He stuttered.  
“Come on, there’s gotta be some girl you think is cute,” Diomedes said, smiling.  
“Chryseis from Ms. Chiang's class seems pretty nice,” Achilles said, blushing.  
“And what about you, Patroclus?” Menelaus asked.  
“No one really,” Patroclus said.  
“What about Briseis, you hang out with her all the time,” Odysseus asked.  
“We’re best friends. She’s practically my sister.” Patroclus explained.  
“Do you like Andromache?” asked Diomedes.  
“Who?” asked Patroclus.  
Before he could get an answer the bell rang and they had to clean up to return to class. Patroclus looked wistfully at the figure of the prince in his hand.   
“I’m sorry we didn’t get to play,” Achilles said.  
“It’s fine,” Patroclus said with a small smile.  
“They’re not usually such idiots, I swear.” Achilles said. It made Patroclus laugh.  
The math section was a bore and Patroclus found himself daydreaming about the sleepover tomorrow. He hoped Achilles liked his present and he hoped there would be cake and ice cream. He imagined Captain America movies which his father would never let him watch if he were around and telling secrets.  
The next morning, before he left for Achilles’ house, Patroclus went through the list of things he had to bring with him. He had his pillow and a blanket since he didn’t own a sleeping bag. He packed a backpack full with a book, a flashlight, his toothbrush and toothpaste, a brush, and his glasses case. Finally, he held Achilles’ gift underneath his arm. It was wrapped in red and silver wrapping paper with silver ribbons on top.  
“Do you think he’ll like it?” Patroclus asked his father.  
“That depends, do you think he will like it?” he asked. Patroclus thought for a moment.  
“Yes, I do,” He said  
“Then I’m sure he will,” His father said, smiling.  
The car ride was spent mostly in silence, but Patroclus’s father could feel the energy radiating off his son. He was happy to see that Patroclus was finally making some friends at school. It wasn’t that he thought his son was anti-social, for from it, he just thought that he might be picked on because he was different.   
Patroclus was practically bouncing up and down when he rang Achilles’ doorbell. Achilles’ father answered the door and Achilles was standing right behind him. He was wearing a red and white striped shirt, khaki shorts, and red socks. Patroclus thought he looked slightly out of place with his green polo and jeans, but decided not to think anything of it.  
“Hi, you can come inside if you want, “Achilles said.  
“Thanks, I got you a present,” Patroclus responded.  
“Thank you so much. You know you didn’t need to,” Achilles whispered.  
“But it’s your birthday,” Patroclus whispered back.  
“Still, it’d be just as much fun even if you didn’t because you’d be here,” Achilles whispered again and Patroclus grinned.  
“Why are we whispering?” he asked.  
“I don’t know. Come up to my room, and I’ll open this after we have cake,” Achilles said as he set the present by the doorway.  
While the adults talked about adult things, Achilles and Patroclus snuck away to Achilles’ room. The walls were white and the carpet was beige. It looked as if the room had been starched and bleached before Patroclus arrived. Some of the only color seemed to be the red of Achilles’ comforter.   
“It’s very neat. Neater than my room, at least,” Patroclus said.  
“I know, isn’t it awful. My mother says it needs to be clean if I’m going to be allowed to have guests over. She says that we’d look like barbarians otherwise.” Achilles said.  
“Where is your mom?” Patroclus asked.  
“Working, where’s yours?” Achilles asked smiling. Patroclus frowned and looked at the ground. Achilles stopped smiling.  
“I’m sorry, I won’t bring it up again. Do you want to play a game?” Achilles asked.  
“Sure,” Patroclus said, cheering up.  
“I’ve got Checkers, cards, Risk, Sorry, chess-” Achilles said before Patroclus cut him off.  
“I’ve never played chess before, but it looks fun,” Patroclus said.  
“It is, and I’m pretty good if I do say so myself.” Achilles smiled.  
“Great, then I’ll have a pretty good teacher,” Patroclus laughed.  
“My mom says I always get too excited and skip over steps, so I’ll try not to do it this time,” Achilles said.  
“Cool, I’m ready to learn,” Patroclus said.  
It took at least half an hour for Achilles to explain the rules of chess and another hour and a half for them to play the game. Patroclus was naturally good at it because it required forethinking and strategy, which were his forte. He was, however, no match for Achilles simply because he had been playing for much longer.   
The day wore on and the duo ate a lunch of cucumber and feta sandwiches before going to play outside. They tried to play two man kickball, to no avail, and they tried to play basketball, but neither were tall enough to throw the ball into the hoop without lowering it, which Achilles refused to do.   
“We could go swing from willow trees by the brook,” Achilles suggested.  
“Sound like fun,” Patroclus said.  
“Race you!” Achilles said as he dashed across the yard.  
“No fair, you got a head start,” Patroclus yelled.  
“My mom says that life isn’t fair,” Achilles turned his head to call. He ran right into the trunk of an ash tree.  
“Oh my god are you okay?” Patroclus yelled as he ran to his side.   
“I’ll be fine, I’ve had worse,” Achilles said as he rubbed his forehead.  
“You’re bleeding,” Patroclus said.  
“If I’m still bleeding when we’re done then I’ll ask my dad for a band aid,” Achilles glanced at Patroclus who was nervously wringing his hands, “Don’t look at me like that, I’ll be okay, I promise. My mom says that it’s not good for a boy to show pain or cry or any of that girly stuff.”  
“Why?” Patroclus asked. Since when was showing pain something that was “girly”.  
“I don’t actually know,” The pair sat together in silence for a moment.  
“Let’s go swing on the trees,” Achilles said, and off they ran, slower this time.   
They spent the rest of the afternoon outside playing near the brook. After the swung from willow branches, then they waded in the water and watch in delight as little fish nibbled at their toes. Finally, they sat on some rocks on the opposite bank with their feet barely touching the water, wondering what they should do next.  
“Those flowers would look nice in your hair,” Patroclus commented, pointing at the clusters of smartweed and loosestrife in the bank.  
“You really think so?” asked Achilles.  
“Yeah, totally,” Patroclus said as he went to go pick a handful.  
“I think the purple would look lovely in your hair,” Achilles countered.  
“Do you want to make flower crowns, like the one the princess in the castle wore?” Patroclus asked.  
“Sure, only, I don’t really know how to make them,” Achilles said.  
“It’s easy, you pretty much just knot the stems together as close to the flower as you can. These are easy since they’re a cluster of smaller flowers. You know, less knotting,” Patroclus said.  
“So, like this,” Achilles said as he held up his first effort.  
“Exactly,” Patroclus said with a smile. Achilles loved it when Patroclus smiled smiled.  
With the sun hanging low in the sky, Achilles and Patroclus walked back to the house with their new flower crowns atop their heads. Achilles’ looked perfect because Patroclus had made it and if there was one thing Patroclus was more talented at, it was making flower crowns. Back in third grade, when he and Briseis were in the same class, they used to make them all the time.  
Patroclus expected to be let back into the house be Achilles’ father but it was his mother instead. She was at least six feet tall in black heels and a black dress. She had a black suit jacket tossed over her shoulder and her back hair fell to her midback. Her pale skin contrasted heavily with her dark clothing and blood red lips.  
“What is on your head?” She asked before even saying hello.  
“It’s smartweed and loosestrife. Patroclus made it for me,” Achilles said cheerily. Patroclus could not help but to shutter when her gaze fell on him.  
“Who said he could come over?” she asked.  
“Dad did, Patroclus is my friend,” he said.  
“Hello,” Patroclus said, extending his hand. She didn’t take it.  
‘Patroclus,” she said as if the words themselves tasted bad.  
“Why did you make my son a flower crown.” she asked.  
“I thought they would look pretty in his hair.” he said, honestly.  
Without another word, Achilles’ mother plucked the crown from her son’s head and threw it into the bushes.  
“What was that for?” Achilles cried.  
“What would other boys say if they saw you running around with pink flowers in your hair.” she asked  
“Technically they’re purple,” Achilles grumbled.  
“Answer the question,” she snapped.  
“They would laugh,” Achilles whispered as he blushed.  
“Exactly,” she said as she stalked off.  
“Well, that was rude, I made that for you,” Patroclus said. Achilles nodded but still looked at th floor.  
“Do you want to go up to your room and talk about it?” Patroclus asked with a hand on his shoulder.  
“No, but my room would be nice,” Achilles whispered.  
“Okay,” Patroclus said.  
“Do you want to watch some movies and I can ask my dad if we could order pizza,” Achilles said, trying to appear to be happier.  
“That sounds nice,” Patroclus said.  
With his father’s laptop in hand, Achilles and Patroclus went up to his room to spend the rest of the night. The original plan was to sleep in the living room with the big TV and soft couch, but now that Thetis was there, it was no longer an option.  
“We should get changed into pajamas,” Achilles suggested.  
“Sounds good,” Patroclus said as he started rummaging through his backpack.  
“Oh no,” Patroclus sighed.  
“I forgot pajamas,” he said.  
“Well, how’d you manage to do that,” Achilles said lightheartedly.  
“I guess I was just really excited,” Patroclus sulked.   
“Mom says I shouldn’t lend other boys my clothes, but you can have some if you’d like,” Achilles said as he moved to go look through his dresser.  
“Here,” he said,throwing a grey Disney t-shirt and blue, plaid pajama bottoms at him, “I rarely wear these so it shouldn’t be a problem.  
“Thank you,” Patroclus said.  
Once they changed, they sat on Achilles’ bed and tried to decide which movie they would watch. Achilles’ father gave them the pizza, cake, and his present to open when they were alone.  
“Do you like superhero movies?” Patroclus asked.  
“I’ve never watched any. My mom says they’re too violent,” Achilles sighed.  
“I’ve always wanted to see Captain America. I’ve read the comics though. The only thing stopping me is that my dad and I don’t own a copy.” Patroclus said.  
“He’s not trying to protect you?” Achilles asked.  
“What’s there to be protected from?” Patroclus said.  
“I don’t know,” Achilles murmured.  
They decided that they would indeed watch Captain America, if but for no other reason to spite Achilles’ mother. They happily munched on pizza and cake and Achilles may have cried when Bucky died. Patroclus smiled and decided that it would be better for him to figure things out for himself. It would be more fun that way.  
After the movie it was nearly midnight and Achilles sat back into his bed, scarcely able to hold open his eyes. He was going to try his hardest not to fall asleep.   
“Have you ever thought about girls, Patroclus?” Achilles asked.  
“Not particularly, though I can’t say the same for our classmates,” he responded.  
“Me neither,” Achilles said.  
“Are you worried?” Patroclus asked.  
“Honestly, yeah. My mom says I need to raise a family when I’m older, but I can’t see myself having one,” he replied.  
“I feel the same way. Everyone thinks I want to kiss Briseis, but I’m not lying when I say, we’re only friends,” Patroclus sighed.  
“Do you think there’s something wrong with us?” Achilles asked.  
“No, but I don’t know what this is. What are we?” Patroclus asked.  
“My mom says there are such things as boys who like to kiss other boys,” Achilles said.  
“Well, that’s a relief,” Patroclus said, trying to mask the dread he felt building in his stomach.   
“My mom says that boys like that are weak and stupid. Then I feel bad because I’m sure that I’m like that. My mom says I’m supposed to be practically divine. How am I supposed to be divine if I can’t even make her happy,” Achilles was almost in tears.   
“Your mom says a lot of things, it doesn’t mean that they’re true,” Patroclus said as he sat up.  
“But what if they are?” Achilles asked.  
“Then there would be a lot of weak, stupid boys in this world. You, me, probably Diomedes. You know, I should really lend you a book. It’s about greek military history. I think it would make you feel better,” Patroclus said.  
“Thank you. So, you like boys too?” Achilles asked after a brief pause.  
“Yes. It’s all genetic, you know. Something about hormones and alleles. I don’t quite understand it yet, but I will. Just watch,” Patroclus said with a smile.   
They were too young to dwell on such things for much longer. Achilles opened his present and was absolutely delighted. Achilles and Patroclus spend the next day down by the brook, next to the willow tree, trying to figure out chords for Achilles’ favorite song. It seemed for a moment that things could hardly be more perfect.


End file.
